Third School in a Row Suffers From Coronavirus Outbreak in Sipoo; 20 Students Enter Quarantine

A student has tested positive for the coronavirus in Sipoonjoki School on Tuesday. The school is the third in a row to suffer from a coronavirus outbreak in just three days in the small, rural municipality of Sipoo.

Sipoonjoki School is located in Nikkilä in the heart of Sipoo, a rural municipality of about 20,600 people. Picture: A screen capture from Sipoonjoki School’s Facebook page

In total, 20 students and a couple of teachers have transferred to quarantine after it was confirmed that the student had been infected with COVID-19. The exposed students have entered distance learning.

According to a statement from the municipality, “the other students have not presumably been exposed [to the virus].” So the other students will continue in contact teaching.

Sipoonjoki School is located in Nikkilä, a village that is considered the center of Sipoo. There are about 330 students in the school in classes 7 to 9.

Following the government’s decision to reopen the schools last Thursday, the coronavirus has been spreading in the small schools of Sipoo, which are surrounded by birches and pines and where the students can play on the grass. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare THL reports 69 confirmed coronavirus infections in Sipoo as of Tuesday.